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“Which feckin hospital?” His voice is hard, leaving no room for argument.
“Seattle General,” Joy says helpfully.
“I’ll see you there.” He hangs up, and I scowl at the other girls.
“This is ridiculous.”
“Whatever, Kung Fu Panda,” Jules says. “You’ve got a dislocated shoulder. You have to go to the hospital.”
“I hate hospitals.”Chapter Ten~Anastasia~I was right. It wasn’t fun, even with the good drugs they gave me. I never want to relive it again.
“You can now claim you’ve had a sports injury,” Will says into my ear. Meg called him after they reset my shoulder, and he wanted to speak to me. “You’re one of the elite.”
“How many injuries have you had?” I ask him.
“Too many to count. Heal up quick, okay?”
“Okay.” I pass the phone back to Meg and scowl when I try to shift on the bed. “It aches like a bad tooth. I need more drugs.”
“The nurse said she’d be back with something in a bit,” Jules says and pats the hand on my uninjured side. She’s been holding it since they brought me in here. Joy ran up to see if she could catch Jace between patients, and Nic is sitting in the corner, texting Matt.
“I’m sorry this happened,” Nic says.
“It’s not surprising,” I remind her. “I’m always the clumsy one. I should know better than to try a roundhouse kick without supervision.”
Jules laughs, and then we hear an anxious Irishman say, “Where the hell is she?”
“Kane’s here,” I say and smile at Jules. “He sounds worried.”
“Of course, he’s worried.” Jules kisses my cheek and moves back, ready to hand her post over to my guy. “We’re in here.”
“It’s a bloody maze in here,” Kane says as he hurries to me and immediately kisses my forehead, breathing in deeply. “How are you feeling, darling? What can we do for you?”
“Well, it’s a combination of rolling pain and a good buzz from the drugs,” I admit and cup his cheek. “You didn’t have to come.”
“Aye, I did.”
“Let’s go find some cafeteria food,” Jules suggests to Nic and Meg, who both nod.
“Yeah, and we’ll check on you in a bit,” Meg says. “They said they’d spring you out of here soon.”
They hurry out of the room, and Kane winces as he notices the sling on my arm. “I don’t like it that you’re here.”
“It’s just my shoulder.”
“I don’t care if it’s a stubbed toe, I don’t feckin like it.”
“I mean, I would have to be pretty extra to come to the ER for a stubbed toe.”
His lips twitch, but still no smile.
“It scared the life right out of me, it did.” Kane sighs and kisses my good hand.
“Kane. It’s my shoulder. I didn’t almost die. I was only trying to show off my martial arts moves.”
“I didn’t realize you know martial arts.”
“I don’t.”
He smiles now and actually chuckles. “But before your display of expertise, it’s a fun time you had?”
“We had a lot of fun. My asthma didn’t even act up.” I wince and shift on the bed again. “Why do they make these beds so damn uncomfortable?”
“You know, we never had that talk we said we would the other day.”
“No, if I remember correctly, you were too excited to collect on the make-up sex, and we forgot all about the conversation.”
“It was worth it,” he says calmly.
“There’s really not much more to say,” I admit. “I’ve had it my whole life, and it limits some things, including exercise, but Nate reminded me today that I just need to acknowledge my limits and find what works for me. And he’s right. I guess these hips of mine aren’t a life sentence.”
“And what’s wrong with your hips, I’d like to know?”
I laugh, and that makes me hurt, but I continue. “I was working way more hours than any person should when I lived in California. And I think because we were a big kitchen, with so much flour and sugar and spices in the air, along with little sleep, it exacerbated the asthma. I was worried that I’d have to quit baking altogether.
“But I moved here and opened my shop, and now that I’m working more manageable hours, it’s gotten so much better.”
“Good.”
“Do you remember that night at the gala when I had to run into the bathroom?”
He nods.
“Someone walked by drenched in some kind of perfume, and it immediately set me off. I needed the inhaler. And when we were walking back from the beach, I was fine until we were going uphill, and I was trying to go fast, and I don’t know if it was the humidity or what, but it kind of hit me then, too.”
He leans in closer. “And what about when we make love, Anastasia?”
I swallow hard. “Well, I’m definitely out of breath then, but it’s not because of the asthma.”
He smiles softly and then kisses me gently. “If there’s ever a time when we’re together that you feel like you can’t breathe, or that you’re in danger, you just say the word. There’s no need to be embarrassed by it, darling. I always want you to be honest with me.”
